Package kits and systems are employed to package articles, particularly, odd-shaped or fragile articles within a container.
One package kit and system, known as a TURTLE PAK.RTM. kit (a registered trademark of Emerging Technologies Trust of Osterville, Mass.), employs a stiff sheet material having a base portion to hold the article, at least one longitudinal fold line, and a pair of opposite, foldable end panels, and employs a polymeric film tube. The film tube extends about or over the base portion and is moved on movement of the end panels between a loose article insertion position and a huggable article-immobilizing position (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,896, issued Jun. 28, 1994, and its Reissue U.S. Pat. No. 36,412, issued Nov. 30, 1999, hereby incorporated by reference). Other package kits which employ a film tube which is formed by adhesively securing a portion of a polymeric film over the base portion are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,695, issued Oct. 21, 1997, which is also hereby incorporated by reference.
It is desirable to provide a new and improved package kit and method which employs a film tube together with a foldable base sheet to retain and package articles.